I'm implicitly racist, but I love Barack Obama

So I was reading an op-ed in the NYT this morning
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/opinion/30kristof.html
which offered a link to the following:
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

It's an "Implicit Association Test" attempting to test our unconscious associations with race (and the leading party candidates).

Here are my test results:

"Your data suggests a moderate automatic preference for White people over Black people

Your data suggests a strong automatic preference for Barack Obama over John McCain"

(my emphasis)

Remember, the idea here is to open up the hood and look at visceral reactions, rather than something you have time to think about. It doesn't surprise me at all that I'm implicitly (moderately) pro-white -- I've had mostly positive experiences with white people, and my view of African-Americans has largely been formed by culture/media rather than personal relationships. Intellectually, I believe we are all God's children, and that there are no significant biological differences (other than appearance) between black and white folk, but my sub-conscious instinct is to prefer my own tribe.

I attribute my preference of Obama to self-conditioning. I really like Obama, so I associate him with positives. I see McCain as more of a tragic figure, so it's natural for me to associate him with negatives.

If my results are not idiosyncratic, if white people (who still have the majority of power in this country) exhibit an implicit preference for other whites, is this an argument in favor of affirmative action?

I think the main upshot is that we should not beat ourselves up over our unconscious bias, but we also should not overlook a potential disconnect between what we "think" and what we "feel". Furthermore, if we know we are biased against other groups, we should consider seeking out individuals in these groups to enter into relationship with.

The Jesus-move is to have a preferential option for the poor, the hurting, and the broken, regardless of race, ethnicity, or other demographic category. My base instinct is towards selfishness and preference for people who look and act like me -- the Jesus impulse has to be cultivated.

(Update: I took the test again and found no bias in preference for whites over blacks -- or vice versa -- and only a moderate Obama preference. But while the test is a fun tool, individual results aren't really the point. The important question is whether there is a pattern of subconscious racism in the population as a whole. I'm fairly agnostic to this question, but I'm willing to be convinced by good research one way or the other.)